Movie projector control device



March 9, 1948. GOULD 2,437,252

MOVIE PROJECTOR CONTROL DEVICE Filed Nov. 30, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l PROJECTOR BULB HOUSE LIGHTS POWER sconce.

five/27b," REVERSING $4073 ff. Q OLA/QZ MOTOR March 9, 1948. G. K. GOULD 2,437,252

MOVIE. PROJECTOR CONTROL DEVICE Filed Nov. 30, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 9, 1948. GOULD 2,437,252

MOVIE PROJECTOR CONTROL DEVICE Filed Nov. 50, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 feoye ZZZ Qoa/a w y/o r/r ys Patented Mar. 9, 1948 -UNITED STATES PATENT QFFECE MOVIE PROJECTOR CONTROL DEVICE George K. Gould, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application November 30, 1945, Serial No. 631,914

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to control devices for motion picture projecting machines, and more particularly to a control device which will automatically deenergize the projector bulb, turn on house lights and rewind the film when the end of a reel has been reached.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved control device for motion picture projecting machines of simple construction and efiicient operation which eliminates the necessity at the end of a, reel for manually graspingthe loose end of the film, catchin it in the center slot of the rewind spool and then switching on the rewind mechanism,

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved automatic mechanism which automatically releases the film from its driving sprockets and performs the necessary switching operations to rewind the film at the end of a reel.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claim, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational View of a motion picture projecting machine employing the control mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a detail longitudinal cross-sectional view of a portion of the projecting machine of Figure 1 showing the details of the control mechanism.

Figure 3 is a detail transverse cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail view of the rear face of a cam disc employed in the control mechanism of this invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective detail view of a movable film gate member employed in the mechanism of this invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective detail view of the lower end of a cam follower rod employed in the mechanism.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a trigger memoer employed in the control mechanism, shown in cocked position with respect to the film.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 but showthe trigger member in released position.

Figure 9 is a schematic view of a switching disc electrical connections to brushes -cooperat ing with said switching disc to control the switching of the elements as employed in the mechanism of this invention.

Referring to the drawings, H designates a motion picture projector having a main housing l2 which contains the projector bulb. Secured to main housing l 2 is a forwardly projecting auxiliary housing is located in a plane laterally offset from the central longitudinal plane of main housing l2 and defining upper and lower arms which respectively support the film carrying reel members l4 and i5, said reel members being suitably journaled in the arms and being driven by suitable reversible motor means, said motor means being adapted when a voltage of given polarity is applied thereto to drive the reels to unwind the film from one reel to the other as the film is being shown and being adapted in response to reversal of polarity to drive the reels in a reverse direction to rewind the film. The reversing motor and the unwinding and rewinding mechanism associated therewith are conventional and form no part of this invention except with regard to the switching control means for the rewinding operation subsequently to be described,

Supported by auxiliary housing l3 substantially in the central longitudinal plane of the projector is a horizontal lens housing 16 of conventional design and a stationary vertical film gate member ll having an aperture registering with the aperture of the lens housing. J ournaled in the walls of auxiliary housing is are a pair of upper sprocket wheels [8, l8 and a lower sprocket wheel l 9. Located above and below gate member ll are guide rollers 2%], 2i].

Slidably supported inside housing 13 in a pair of apertured lugs 2! and 22 carried by the inner wall surface of hOLlSil'lg i3 is a horizontal bar,

member 23, said bar member carrying a vertical channel-shaped film engaging gate member 2d at its outer end, said gate member 24 being held in parallel position to stationary gate member H, and being apertured to register with the aperture in the stationary gate member. A coil spring 25 connected between bar member 23 and inner lug 22 biases gate member 24 toward gate member H to thereby exert light guiding pressure on a film strip passing between the gate members, thus maintaining the film strip in correct vertical position with respect to the apertures in the gate members while the film is being shown.

During the unwinding of the film, that is, while it is being shown, the upper loop of the film strip is maintained in meshing engagement with upper sprocket wheels it by an overlying bearing member 25 which is carried by an arm 27 projecting through a vertical slot to in the wall of housing it, said arm 2? being carried by a vertical bar member 28 which sliclably passes through a pair of vertically aligned apertured guide lugs 29 and so carried by the inner wall surface of housing bearing member 32 being carried by; a-verticallyj slidable bar member 33 contained within housing I3 and slidably supported in a pair of vertically aligned apertured guide lugs 3 3 and 35 carried by the inner wall surface of housing iii A coil. spring 36 connected between bar member Stand upper guide lug 34 biases lower bearingmember.-

32 to film holding position.

J ournaled transversely in housing is 'isa'sh'aft' element 31 secured to which is a circular disc.

Disc member 38 is formed on its Cam 39 comprise a member 38. frontiace with a .cam 39.

firstriser portiontika second riser portion 4%.

andLa-thirdriser porno-n42. Each'of the bar members v23; 28 and 33is formed with a recessed end portion in which is journaled'a follower roller 43, .as. shown in Figure .6; The follower roller of banmemb'erfis'engages riser portion to, the followerrollerof barmember 23 engages riser portionv 4i and the follower roller of bar member 33 engages riser portion 32.. Disc member 38 is biasedlina counter-clockwise direction, referring to..F!igure..2',.by a spirali'spring id connected between.cam/element.1i9 and the adjacent wall surface-of housingis. Intliepositionof. the elements. shown in Figure 2,1 shaftelement Si has been rotated.counter-clockwise by spring tomove gate member. 2 and bearing members 2BIand..32lto.film releasing positions by virtue of the cam actionofthe respective riser portions. Shaft element 3]. is. provided with an external handle portion 4-5Jwhichis rotatablebetween a pair. of. stop lugs at and ll for. resetting the mechanism.

The rear face of. disc member 33 is formed withasecondcamiid. and carries a stop lug roller, member 49. radially spaced outwardly of theintermediate. portion of cam 33. Cooperatingwithcam 48 is a follower. member 59 carried by 'a vertical rod element Ell which is slidably received in guide lugs 29 and 3E! behind vertical bar membenzs. The top end of rod element 55 is bent: at right angles and. projects outwardly througha verticalslotfil .in bar member 28 and a vertical slot Elinthe wall of housing l3, the

outenend'of theprojecting arm carryin a roller.

element-.53.. Rod element 59 is biased downwardly bya coil spring- 5 3 connected between guide-lug 30 and said :rod element. is rearwardly-ofisetat its lower portion and is formed-with a detent lug element 56 adapted to interlockwith stop roller 3% of cam. disc 38.

Follower member. (l9

When.a.strip.Of filmis positioned on sprockets l8;.l8" as showninFigure 7, roller 53 rests on theedge portion. of the strip. This maintains detent.-lug 563m an abutting position with respect tofstopmoller. 49'. The portion of the film near the endof. the reel is cut away, as shown at 5'? inFigure 8. When thiscut awa portion of the rum reaches roller. 53', said..rol1er is unsupported and drops below the film strip, thereby moving detent lug 55 downwardly out of engagement with stop roller 49 and releasing the cam disc 38. Therefore, referring now to Figure 2 Where the cam disc is shown in released position, to reset the mechanism handle 45 is rotated clockwise from stop lug 46 to stop lug 41 causing cam 48 to raise rod member 50 until roller 53 is above sprocket wheels l8, 18, a new strip of film is inserted between-roller 53 andthesprocket wheels E3, E8 in meshing engagement -with-the sprocket wheels, and handle 45 is then released. This holds detent lug 56 in blocking position with respect to-stoprollerdi! and cooks the cam disc 33. In the cooked position of cam disc 38, gate Ell: and'holdingmembers 26 and 32 are in effective guiding contact with the film strip to hold the strip in proper position.

The resetting operation, of course, is performed after the previously shown reel has been rewoundand-removed and. anew reel has been placed'inposition forunwinding. In Figure the. solid line 9 designates the film in rewinding position, whereasthe dotted'line 8 designates the. film in position to. be shown.

Supported within housing I 3 and coaxial lwith shaft element 3? isaswitchcasingi 58" formed preferably of insulating. material. into which.

shaitelement 37 extends. Carriedon shaft .ele-. ment'fi'l within casing 58Zis. a.v disc. 59-. ofinsulating material; Disc 59'carriesatits periphery. a plurality ofspaced. shortlcircuiting.bars..60,.

El, 62, 63, 64 and 55. Positionedin casing58 in,

wiping engagement withtheperiphery of, disc. 59. are..a..fi1st pair. of brushes ;66,-,6.|'connected to the house. lightinglampcircuit; In thecocked position of shaftelement 37'brushes 66 and El.

engage merely the insulatingportion of disc-5.9..

A second pair ofbrushes .68. and 69 are connect-v ed to the projector bulb. These brushes engage, bars 62 and 63 respectivelyimthe. cocked position .ofdisc 59.. A third pair oftbrushes'lfi-land ii. are connected to. the reversible. motor. Of. these, brush it is in engagementwith conductor bar 65 of disc 58 when saiddisc is in cockedposition, brush H engaging bar 64.. A.fourth pair of brushes l2 and. 73 are connected to the power. line,..these brushes engaging bars-64 and.65-respectively when disc 59 is cooked. A fifth pair. of brushes Maud i5. engage bars.,63 and 62.re-.- spectively when the disc is cooked, and these brushes. are respectively. connected to brushes l2 and 73 to therebyenergize the projector-bulb. A sixthv pair of brushes 16 and 11 are provided, brush E6 being connected-to brush'lfi and engaging bar 6! in the cocked position of the .discandbrush 11- being connected to, brush l3 and engagin the. insulating portionof disc 59-- in the cooked position thereof. It will be readily apparent from Figure. 9 that in the cooked p0 sition of disc 59. the projector bulb is energized since brushes 68 and 69 respectivel engage bars 62. and 63.which are electrically connected by brushes i5 and'M to the power source. Also it will be seen that the house lights are deenerg-ized.

When the mechanism is automatically released at the end of areel as above previously described, shaft 31 rotates counter-clockwise as seen in Figure under the action of spring,- through an angle a, disc 59'rotating accordingly through.

the house light circuit. Similarly conductor: barv 64 moves to a position bridging brushes H and 11, and conductor bar 65 moved to a position bridging brushes and '12, thus reversing the polarity of the voltage applied to the motor. At the same time, conductor bars 62 and 63 move out of engagement with brushes 68 and 69, thus deenergizing the projector bulb.

The reversed motor rewinds the film, which when completely rewound, is removed and the next reel placed in position for unwinding.

While a specific embodiment of a control structure for motion picture projectors has been disclosed in the foregoing description it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention other than as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a motion picture projector, a first reel, a second reel, a film gate, means for supporting a film in projection position with respect to said film gate as it is being unwound from said first reel onto said second reel, a rewinding motor adapted to rewind said film from the second reel onto the first reel, a projection lamp for the projector, guide means for holding said film against said supporting means during the unwinding of the film, the film being cut away at its side portion adjacent the end of the reel being unwound, a member normally sup-ported on said side portion, a detent lug carried by said member, an element including a cam and a handle device rotatively mounted with respect to said detent lug, a spring biasing said element to a first position, said cam being adapted to lift 6 said member above the level of the film responsive to manual rotation of said element by said handle device against the tension of said spring, a stop lug carried by said element normally cooperating with said detent lug to maintain said element in a rotated position, said stop lug being formed and arranged to clear said detent lug during the coaction of said cam with said member, means responsive to the dropping of said member through the cut-away side portion of the film to disengage said detent lui; from said stop lug whereby to release said element, and means responsive to the return of said element to its first position for simultaneously de-energizin said projection lamp, moving said guide means out of holding position with respect to the film and energizing said rewinding motor.

GEORGE K. GOULD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,943,303 Foster Jan. 16, 1934 2,009,442 Foster et a1. July 30, 1935. 2,051,787 Foster Aug. 18, 1936 1,468,499 Frangos Sept. 18, 1923 2,049,944 Carpenter Aug. 4, 1936 2,051,036 Foster et al Aug. 18, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 148,744 Great Britain Dec. 2, 1920 150,298 Great Britain Dec. 30, 1920 

